San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award Winners, from Blade Runner to I, Tonya

Tis’ the season of award giving, and today while Southern California was all caught up in Star Wars premiere fever, Northern California saw the San Francisco Film Critics Circle come together to vote for their winning slate of films, actors, and creators from 2017.

The 50 members of the San Francisco critic’s community went against some of the current trend of clustering awards (some awards shows are falling over themselves to gush over The Shape of Water or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), and went fairly wide for their recipients. Rather than it being all indies or all Hollywood top-lines, they went from the surprise hits of the year (Get Out) to a Pixar entry (Coco) to an action/war film (War for the Planet of the Apes).

• Marlon Riggs Award (Bay Area Filmmaker) – Peter Bratt
• Special Citation – Brimstone & Glory
• Best Original Screenplay – Get Out by Jordan Peele
• Best Adapted Screenplay – Call Me by Your Name by James Ivory
• Best Cinematography – Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049
• Best Production Design – Paul D. Austerberry for The Shape of Water
• Best Score – Jonny Greenwood for Phantom Thread
• Best Film Editing – Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos for Baby Driver
• Best Animated Feature – Coco
• Best Foreign Language Film – BPM
• Best Documentary – Faces Places
• Best Supporting Actor – Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project
• Best Supporting Actress – Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
• Best Actor – Andy Serkis for War for the Planet of the Apes
• Best Actress – Margot Robbie for I, Tonya
• Best Director – Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water

and

• Best Picture – The Florida Project

As always there’s a few entries taking home prizes which either have only just released or aren’t releasing until later in the year so it may leave people scratching heads regarding why a film like Phantom Thread might be under consideration (it doesn’t release wide until Christmas day). It did in fact sneak in a screening in New York in November which winds up making it eligible. If there’s any films you haven’t yet seen that are on the list – they’re likely some of the independent films, like Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. It’s as always a great reminder to keep an eye on what’s showing at your local indie theater, because as often as not, that’s where you’ll find the gems.